how wings work? Smoke streamlines around an airfoil

Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, multimedia video from Physics Education, 2003, by Holger Babinsky.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Francis WorldInsideOut]

That's the point.

[flyfaster99]

thanks to Einsteins general theory of relativity a movement of a medium around a body is the exact same like a movement with the same characteristics (velocity, viscosity, etc.) of the body in the medium. So its the same when the air floats arund the airfoil or if the airfoil "floats" in the air

[MrSquishedsquashed]

The air in the natural world does anything but stand still XD

[deezynar]

Alex, I'm not an expert, but this is the type of thing that's usually done in a wind tunnel. I hope that helps.

[Khashon Haselrig]

I think you should be able to see the vortex in the the tunnel but if the wing stops right at the edge of the tunnel the vortexes wont be there. The vortexes also change depending on how close the wing is to the ground so that might be a factor int he wind tunnel as well. I think it is the same thing otherwise.

[TheCafetier]

Both situations should be equivalent in the stationary case.

[impetusarts]

sorry for my bad english, but i will try to explain one important thing:

in a windtunnel the air moves and the object stands still.

in the sky the plane moves and the air stands still!! you cannot change the relations!!!

you can't see the real vortex in the windtunnel!

[Qoutehappy]

welcome acp bio lab!

[completeaerogeek]

-No worries. Yes that right. The shape of a wing can vary. All airliners use supercritical wings which are flatter on top and curved on the bottom with a reflex curve at the underside trailing edge. This increases the critical Mach number and reduces the size of the shock wave and the associated drag allowing for a higher MMO. Helicopters and aerobatic aircraft use symmetrical aerofoils which of course blows up the 'Venturi explanation and the equal transit time one as well.

[completeaerogeek]

-Also remember that the air is not moving the wing is. The passage of the wing displaces air and creates a void which begins to collapse as the highest thickness/chord passes through, This collapse is caused by the normal air pressure acting on the shrinking void this shrinking and air's natural viscosity which causes it to follow a curved surface (Coanda) lowers the pressure below static You can see this as the streamlines spread out slightly. NASA knows it's stuff.